Blood,Sweat, and Gears
The Roosevelt High School robot features Plexiglas, a paint roller, and a whole lot of duct tape. In the words of one student: “I hate saying this, but it’s an advanced shopping cart.”
Cover Story
Bronson Beverly just realized that it’s up to him to save the Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School robotics team.
It’s a January afternoon in an abandoned science lab on the third floor of the Petworth school. Thousands of dollars’ worth of NASA scrap metal is sprawled out across three lab stations. In six weeks, these parts must become a robot. The dozen or so students gathered around them are Roosevelt’s first-ever robotics team. The team will compete in the Chesapeake Regional robotics competition in Annapolis, Md., in March.
A partial lineup of the Roosevelt robotics squad:
There’s Brittany Jackson, a popular 16-year-old whose aunt forced her to join to beef up her college applications and math grade. She has already joined and quit the cheerleading squad, dance team, and math club since entering Roosevelt.
There’s Raúl Velásquez, 16, and Luis Garcia, 18, both recent immigrants from El Salvador who are in freshman classes because of their shaky English skills. They’re off to the side laughing and speaking in Spanish.
There’s Clive Baker, a 16-year-old who specializes in dead-baby jokes, curse words, and metal bands. He says he has joined the team because he’s a “full-time slacker” with nothing better to do.
Mathletes they are not.
Bronson’s credentials are stacked for a 15-year-old: Last summer he worked as an assistant to scientists at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He creates Web sites and has a box of astronomy and chemistry books under his bed. He used to dismantle and reassemble toy robots for fun. ... Continued 
Issue of Apr. 14 - 20, 2006
News and Features
- Blood,Sweat, and Gears
Cover Story - Condominium Emptor
The City - Don PePe's Cash & Carry
The City - Capitol Hill Worship Group
The City - D.C. Rocks
The Mail - D.C. Rocks
The Mail - D.C. Rocks
The Mail
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Film Review - Demeans to an End
Film Review
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Music Review - 'Sno Angel Like You
Music Review - The Charm
Music Review - One Track Mind
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Theater Review - The Truman Show
Theater Review
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Artifacts - The Devil Is in the Details
Artifacts - Making History
Art Review - Rhapsody in Brew
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City Lights - Godzilla
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City Lights - Robert Dallek and Terry Golway
City Lights - Rosie Thomas
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City Lights - China and the Jewish People: Old Civilizations in a New Era.
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City Lights - Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids
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